‘Pchum Ben’ Festival or the Festival for the Dead, which is the second biggest festival for the Cambodian people in the entire country after the ‘Chaul Chhnam Thmei’ (Khmer New Year), will be celebrated this week, from Oct. 1 to 3.
In fact, the whole festival lasts 15 days. During the first 14 days, called Kan Ben, people or villagers take turns to offer food to monks in nearby pagodas in hope that the offerings will reach the souls of their ancestors by virtue of the Buddhist monk sermons. But the most important is the last day of the Pchum Ben on which all Cambodian Buddhist followers, the rich as well as the poor, manage to prepare food and other offerings for their visits to pagodas.
In a royal message to his subjects on the occasion of the celebration of Kan Ben and Pchum Ben, His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, wrote that the annual festival has significantly contributed to nurturing the spirit of national unity, love, preservation, protection of traditi
ons and customs, and promoting the Khmer civilisation.
It also serves as an opportunity to reunite with their families and relatives near and far and to support the Buddhist monks who have endured their three-month stay-in period in the pagoda, added the monarch.
The government officials, workers and employees will have three days off from Oct. 1 to 3.
According to the Ministry of Tourism’s record, last year, approximately 1.89 million local and international tourists visited different tourist attractions during the Pchum Ben Festival from Oct. 13-15, a year-on-year increase of 52.2 percent.
Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse